Uncharted
by KB103
Summary: Ari James is Arizona Robbins, but please don't tell anyone that. Looking for freedom, Arizona hides her family name to attend college like a normal kid and not the president's daughter. Follow the cast of Grey's as they fall in love, have their hearts broken, and learn more about themselves than they ever thought possible.
1. Jump Start My Kaleidoscope Heart

Freshman Year: Jump Start My Kaleidoscope heart

Nestled in the farmland of rural Minnesota, Bentley College loomed with the promise of a fresh start. Though cornfields and rolling hills weren't exactly her style, the possibility of true freedom couldn't have been more appealing to Arizona Robbins. After growing up in a city of three million people, a town of 20,000 seemed like it could be suffocating, but the alternative seemed awful: attending an ivy with a giant spotlight on her. No thanks. She just wanted to be out of Washington and away from the blinding spotlight always shining on her family.

Arizona loved her father, but after nearly two years of being scrutinized, she needed a break. So instead of attending college out East and having everyone stare at her, Arizona opted to become Ari James and enroll at Bentley, her mother's Alma Mater. Arizona anguished over the change to her name – she loved her name – but it was unique. If she hadn't changed it to Ari, it would have been much too easy to identify her as Arizona Robbins, the only daughter of Colonel Daniel Robbins, President of the United States of America. She left that part of her behind in favor of her education, and she regretted nothing.

Her mother had spoken for years of Bentley, the school she loved so dearly, and for a while Arizona never thought she would actually apply, let alone attend. For the majority of her life, Arizona always saw herself as being the type of person who would continue her studies at Harvard or Yale, but when the time came for her to decide on a school, she found herself turning in the opposite direction of those schools. She had been a robot for the better part of her young life, and she quickly determined that was not the path for her academic future. She wanted to think, to be challenged, to be surrounded by music, to grow as a person without the pressures of attending a school like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, or Brown pressing down on her shoulders.

Those thoughts and decisions had led Arizona to consider her mother's Alma Mater. She even took a tour of the campus, without the company of her parents of course. The whole point of this was to escape any unnecessary attention. Luckily her father did his best to keep his two children out of the media, so Arizona didn't have to worry about having a crowd of reporters around her at all times, especially when she was out of D.C. So, she toured Bentley with her god mother Jen. That tour was the big test of whether or not she could do this as Ari James. If she was recognized on the tour, then being undercover wouldn't have been an option. But people's memories are contextual. Without the presidential hoopla, no one looked harder at her face, trying to figure out why so many people cared who she was. Arizona could just be.

Jen had always been an important part of Arizona's life. She moved a couple of times while Arizona was a kid, but she never lived too close to the Robbins family, providing Arizona with the perfect escape hatch if she ever needed to get away. It was Jen that had taken Arizona to New York and Europe. Her parents were always so busy, but Jen's presence in Arizona's life helped ease their pain about not always being able to give her what she needed in any given moment.

Jen sat in the car next to Arizona as they approached Burlington, the Minnesota countryside whizzing by. A massive wind turbine loomed in the distance, easily visible over the cornfields lining the landscape. Jen steered the car through the quaint, downtown area and across the river. The car turned left onto Bentley Ave, and Arizona could feel the butterflies in her stomach. She remembered driving up this road just a few months prior.

As Jen navigated the vehicle up the hill, Arizona's nerves turned into excitement. She'd already talked to her roommates, but mostly she was excited to finally get started. This marked the first time she would be truly away from her parents. Even when she attended Phillips Exeter, their shadow came with her. It felt like her mom visited every other weekend, and the school loved to have a Governor they could call up to give speeches whenever the mood struck. College as her own person without all of that meant that she was on her own. It seemed even more daunting because she felt so removed. Going by her shortened first name and mother's maiden name made her feel like there was a wall beginning to form between her and the rest of her family.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Arizona smiled as Jen parked the SUV outside the door to Hoyt Hall, her new home for the year. Climbing out of the car, Arizona turned to face the building. Bay windows decorated the limestone façade, the copper lining glinting in the sun., momentarily blinding Arizona. Her hand rested on her hip as the other shaded her eyes, allowing the blonde to take in the full scope of her surroundings. Her musing, however, was almost immediately interrupted by a host of bouncy and energetic college students approaching her car. Don't get her wrong, Arizona could be bouncy, but this was an 'OMG I SORT OF WANT TO BE HERE BUT I'M GETTING PAID SO HERE'S MY SMILE. GET EXCITED' bouncy.

Completely overwhelmed, the blonde stepped out of the way as the mass of bouncy, happy people grabbed a few of her things and headed into the dorm. Arizona vaguely remembered mumbling her room number, but it was a blur. She followed them inside and went to the check-in table.

"Name?" a woman asked from behind the table.

"Ariz…" the blonde started before catching herself. She took a deep breath to regain her composure. "James," Arizona let out with a breath. "Ari James."

"Welcome to Bentley, Ari," the perky desk worker said, thrusting an envelope into Arizona's hands.

"Thanks," the blonde mumbled before turning to go up the stairs to her room. Unfortunately her room was located on the fourth floor, so she traipsed up the stairs, and scanned the hallway for her room. Surprisingly, her room was actually located just off the stairs. As she poked her head in, Arizona saw that the bouncy people already deposited the bulk of her stuff on the floor.

"There you are," Jen said, entering the room, carrying presumably the last of Arizona's things.

"Sorry," Arizona apologized, grabbing a pile of clothes from Jen's arms, "I had to check in downstairs."

"No worries," Jen replied. She set down the hamper, the last item from the trunk, and surveyed the room. "This is pretty big, Ari."

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, it's because there are three of us here."

"Do you need any help unpacking?" Jen asked.

Arizona shook her head. She really wanted to unpack alone; it was therapeutic for her, something she learned from her high school days at Exeter. "No I'm good. Could we get some lunch before you have to leave though?"

"Lunch sounds great."

* * *

"Oh God," Meredith groaned as she woke up. Her head pounded behind her eyes; she definitely drank too much last night. Looking around, she realized she was on the much too thin rug on her living room floor. "What the hell happened last night?" she asked to no one in particular. Looking down at her body, it dawned on Meredith that she was actually naked. "Shit," she cursed as she looked around for a blanket. A boy was passed out on the other side of the couch, and he had a blanket. In a rush¸ memories from last night came flooding back. She went to a party, and met this guy in a red shirt. From that point, it was all a bit of a blur; she barely remembered anything, except that he was very good in bed.

Meredith picked up the blanket, wrapping it around herself before she dropped a pillow on him to cover his bare ass. He grunted, but she hoped he was still asleep. Meredith tried to slip by him unnoticed, but she cringed when he picked up her black bra, holding it up for her.

"This is…" he began groggily.

"Humiliating on so many levels," Meredith finished, grabbing the bra. "You have to go," she declared as she tiptoed to the stairs.

Sitting up, he smirked playfully. "Why don't you just come back down here and we'll pick up where we left off?"

"Seriously, you have to go," she said, throwing him some clothes. Meredith brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. "I'm late, which isn't what you want to be on your first day of college, so…"

The mystery guy stood and looked around the room. "So…uh…you actually live here," he commented awkwardly as he pulled on his

Meredith sighed. "Not exactly."

"Oh," he said, a little confused about the situation.

"Well," Meredith blurted, "yes I live here…sort of…ish. It was my mother's house."

"Oh," the man responded. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked, pulling the blanket tighter around her body.

"You said was…" he trailed off.

"Oh!" Meredith exclaimed, realization dawning on her. "My mother's not dead. She's…you know what? We don't have to do the thing."

"Oh," he replied, grabbing his shirt from the couch, "we can do anything you want."

"No the thing," she corrected, "exchange the details…pretend we care. Look, I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower ok? And when I get back, you won't be here. So…um…goodbye…"

"Derek," he supplied, realizing she didn't know his name.

"Derek," she repeated. "Right. Meredith," she said, extending her hand.

"Meredith," Derek said as he grasped her hand, stepping around the couch. "Nice meeting you."

Acutely aware of the close proximity of their bodies, Meredith began to back up. This guy, Derek, was really attractive, and being that close to him brought back the very good memories of last night. "Bye Derek," she said with a nervous giggle before dashing up the stairs to the comfort of the bathroom.

She shut the door to the room, and slid down to the door, puffing the hair from in front of her face with a sigh. Last night was a shit show. The tequila had been a bad idea, but it really wasn't her fault. This girl named Cristina pulled her into it.

Pulling herself from the floor, Meredith went to the shower. She turned the nozzle, releasing the warm spray of water. Dropping the blanket, Meredith stepped into the shower. She allowed the droplets to caress her skin, rinsing away the fog from last night. She wanted to stay in the shower forever, but unfortunately she had to go "move in". Her stuff was already there, and she practically grew up on the campus, so the whole orientation think didn't need to happen.

Her mother, Ellis Grey, graduated from Bentley in the seventies, going on to become one of the most powerful CEOs in the world, leading the global tech company Tetrix from inception. She was one of the college's largest donors, and served as the first female on the Board of Trustees. Though they primarily lived in Boston, Ellis always kept a house in Burlington for when she visited campus a couple times a year. And she never sold it, so now that Meredith was an Eagle, it dropped into her possession…sort of.

Meredith turned off the water, wrapped herself in a towel, and stepped out of the shower. She needed to get up to campus soon. Thankfully, she moved in her furniture a couple of days ago, so she didn't have to lug all that shit up to her room, but she still had to go be nice, and deal with everyone's sappy bullshit of "letting their children go." She threw on some clothes, careful to avoid the colors of black and gold. Those were school colors and she really didn't want to be _that_ freshman.

Grabbing a sweatshirt, Meredith left the house, the door slamming behind her. She started her trek up Bentley Ave. towards the college. The house was only a few blocks away from the base of "the hill", but the gradual incline really sucked. She took out her phone, and typed a quick text to Cristina, the soccer player she met the night before.

 _On my way up the hill with the hangover from hell. Want to sit together at the sappy family ceremony?_

Cristina felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, seeing she'd received a text from Meredith, the girl from the party last night that was almost as crazy as she was. Smirking at the message, she typed back her agreement. She was in the bookstore, getting a Bentley shot glass, which in hindsight was a terrible idea. The place was crawling with freshmen and their overzealous parents wanting to buy merchandise. Cristina recognized that she was a freshman as well, but soccer players moved into their dorms two weeks ago, so she'd already said goodbye to her mom and step-father. Thank God.

She handed over the small amount of money for the shot glass before bolting from the store. Cristina had a thing for shot glasses. It was worth the three minutes spent in the suffocating throng of jabbering people. She found it quite ironic that a supposed "dry" campus sold shot glasses and mugs in their bookstore. The notion of an alcohol free campus itself should have sent Cristina running for the hills, but thankfully the soccer team didn't believe in such ridiculous rules. Half the boys team lived in an off campus house, which was where the party was last night.

Leaving the student center, Cristina began the short walk to her dorm, Argonne. Her mother thought she was being rash, running away to Minnesota to play soccer, but really she was just running away to Minnesota to hide from her mother – her very overbearing mother.

Growing up in Beverly Hills, California, Cristina was always at the mercy of her mother, especially after her father died when she was nine. Her mom was always around, trying to shape Cristina into this emotional, dress wearing, pink loving girl. None of that fit with who she actually was, so when Bentley started recruiting her for soccer, Cristina jumped at the chance to relocated a healthy 2000 miles from her mother. Bentley was DIII, so she wasn't on scholarship, but the conference in which Bentley competed was one of the best in the country at the DIII level. Besides she didn't need the money, and this small school in Minnesota had an awesome chemistry program. There was no way she was going to pass this up.

Cristina pulled open the door to her dorm, careful to dodge around the loving and doting parents. She headed down one floor to her room. She quickly realized that her roommate had actually showed up, and she apparently brought a lot of stuff. Well, she brought a lot of clothes. Cristina stepped around the ever growing clothes pile to the safe haven underneath her lofted bed.

Cristina's roommate apparently didn't hear her come in because when she turned around, she jumped about three feet in the air. "Holy shit!" she panted, trying to catch her breath. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Cristina replied blandly.

"I'm um Callie Torres," the taller woman said, extending her hand.

"Cristina Yang," she replied, equally as bland as her apology. No sooner than the words left her mouth, her phone vibrated on the desk. After quickly reading the text, she hopped out from underneath her bed, and headed towards the door. "I'll see you around," she said lamely, offering a halfhearted smile before ducking out of the room completely.

"Bye?" Callie replied, questioning what exactly just happened. She hoped her roommate wasn't nearly as abrasive as she seemed. She was used to social people. Sure, she went through her hair chewing phase, but for the better part of her high school career, Callie enjoyed life under the glamorous strobe lights of Miami.

Her family was perplexed as to why she wanted to go up to Minnesota for college when all the rest of her friends were staying in state, attending either the University of Florida, University of Miami, or Florida State. Her father, however, owned a very successful chain of hotels nationwide, and one of his lead investors was Michelle Sloan. Consequently, Michelle and her son Mark made appearances in Miami throughout Callie's childhood. Just a couple years older than her, Mark Sloan became one of her closest friends.

When he went to college at Bentley, Callie visited him a few times and fell in love with the place. One of the major bonuses for Callie was the music program at Bentley. She loved singing; it was how she processed. There was nothing more beneficial for her sanity than retreating into her head through song.

Her father, however, wasn't quite on board with the whole music thing. Carlos Torres was a business focused man. He built his fortune on the sweat of his brow. He did not support following passions if those passions led to a mediocre salary and questionable employment for the rest of her life. He was extremely supportive of Callie, and only wanted what was best for her. That just didn't include a career in music, and Callie understood that completely. Music was a hobby and something she loved to do, but her dream was not performing under the bright lights of a stage. She wanted to help people, and be a bomb karaoke performer.

Looking around her tornado of a room, the brunette decided to take a break. Mark was already on campus because he was a junior counselor in Hoyt with his best friend Derek, so Callie decided to go see him before heading down to the ceremony this afternoon. Locking the door behind her, Callie walked the short distance down the hall to the door. Hoyt was about a five minute walk, so she didn't bother getting out her ipod or anything. Observing the people as she walked was more fun anyway, especially on days like today when there were definitely tons of interesting people around.

By interesting, she meant ridiculously attractive, she thought as a few women walked by ahead of her. Callie recently started identifying as bisexual after she fell for one of her close friends in Miami. It was actually Mark who helped her realize she had feelings for Erica.

As she pulled open the door to Hoyt, a blonde woman, walked out of the building. Callie caught the door, holding it open as the other woman left, followed by an older redhead. The blonde turned around to face Callie, her blue eyes locking with the Latina's brown ones. "Thanks," she mumbled, her eyes remaining trained on Callie.

"You're welcome," the Latina replied, her mouth instantly becoming dry as she maintained their eye contact.

The blonde turned away, breaking the spell, leaving Callie there holding the door and staring like an idiot. With a smile she shook her head and entered the building.

Ridiculously attractive indeed.

* * *

A/N: For those of you who have read my fics before, you may be confused. I wanted to make some pretty big edits to this story as I resume work on it, but to do that I needed to take it down. I will be updating every few days as I write more chapters. Thanks for reading!


	2. Faces in the Hall

**Chapter 2: Faces in the Hall**

* * *

Callie took the stairs up to the third floor of Hoyt two at a time, dodging around the parents carrying futons, rugs, and other college necessities. Slipping by two parents hauling a couch down the hallway, she finally managed to end up outside Mark's door. After raising her fist to knock, she waited for a few seconds, hearing people shuffling around in the room.

"Torres!" Mark exclaimed as he flung open the door. He wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug, completely ignoring the fact that he was in a towel. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Callie replied with a laugh as he let her go. She and Mark had been friends for years, originally meeting through their parents when Callie was in late elementary school. They grew up together. He was always there for her, even though he lived a good distance away. He was the one who told her about sex, he was her first kiss, and he was her best friend. Spending her first two years of college with him was definitely the best decision she could have ever made.

"You all moved in?" he asked, pulling her a little further into the room so he could close the door.

"Well you know me," the Latina said with a smirk, "I have enough clothes to sink a battleship, so I am 'mostly' moved in."

Mark chuckled as he pulled a shirt over his head. "Sounds just like you, Cal. How are you liking Argonne? Have you met your roommate yet?"

"Argonne is…small," Callie answered honestly. "And my roommate is interesting."

"That bad huh?"

"No, not bad," the brunette replied. "We haven't really had a chance to actually talk. We seem to be very different."

"Sloan," Derek barked as he entered the room. "The A.C. wants us to go check on the fourth floor girls and see if they need any help."

"Okay," Mark answered, "just let me pull on some pants."

"I'll just meet you up there," Derek said impatiently before leaving, letting the door slam behind him.

"What's his deal?" Callie asked, knowing he and Mark have been close since they met as prospective students their junior year of high school.

"I'll tell you about it later," Mark answered dismissively, pulling on a pair of well-fitting jeans. "Let's go meet some hot underclassmen."

"You're such a pig," the brunette scolded as she playfully punched him in the arm.

Mark merely shot her a devilish smirk as he opened the door. Following Callie out the door, they walked down the hallway towards the stairs, Derek a few paces ahead of them. Turning to go up the stairs, Callie grabbed Mark's hand to pull him out of the way a futon that nearly hit him in the face. Mark smiled his gratitude before turning to head up the stairs. As Callie was about to follow, she spotted the blue eyed blonde from earlier, struggling with a big trunk. Rushing down the stairs, she grabbed the other side. "You looked like you could use a hand," she said, offering the blonde a smile. "My name is Callie."

"Arizo," she paused and shook her head, regaining her composure, "Ari. My name is Ari."

"Nice to meet you, Ari," the brunette answered as she backed her way up the stairs with a trunk. After a few minutes of careful navigation up the stairs, they were on the fourth floor. "Which way to your room?" Callie asked, gesturing to either way down the hallway with her head.

"It's right behind you," Arizona answered, gently pushing the brunette in the right direction with her trunk.

Callie backed into the large room, putting the trunk on the floor. "Wow," she commented, looking around. "This is pretty big, you got lucky."

"Do you not live in Hoyt?" Arizona questioned as she started to arrange her desk.

"No," the Latina replied, shaking her head. "I live in Argonne. My friend Mark is a J.C. over here."

"So you're in with the upperclassmen. Remind me to keep you around," the blonde said jokingly.

"Have you met your roommates yet?" Callie inquired, interested in keeping the conversation going.

Arizona shook her head. "I haven't actually. I know one of them is a soccer player, but I know next to nothing about the other."

"Ok well I'm going to head back downstairs to Mark's room. I think I saw him wandering that way. Maybe I'll see you around," the Latina said as she made her way to the door.

"Hey Callie?" the blonde blurted, causing Callie to stop in the doorway. "Wanna go to the ceremony together? My parents didn't come with me."

A smile broke out on Callie's face. "Yeah absolutely. Meet you in the lobby in a half hour?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. See you then," the Latina said before disappearing into the hallway.

Arizona sighed, turning back to the pile of stuff she had yet to unpack. Jen left just a little bit ago, but they'd realized Arizona forgot her trunk, which was why she was dragging it up the stairs. Only by chance did she run into the same beautiful brunette she had earlier. Talk about a stroke of luck. The woman, Callie, was stunning. Her long, dark hair and deep brown eyes, pulled Arizona in. She didn't want to get involved all that early in her college career, but there was something about this Callie girl that made her want to forget all sense and rational thought.

The blonde slowly put her desk together, placing everything in its particular spot. This sort of unpacking was therapeutic for her. Truthfully, she didn't have much to unpack since she'd learned a long time ago what was needed and what wasn't. Boarding school did that for her. She'd attended high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, arguably the most prestigious boarding school in the country. She matriculated there as a sophomore when her father started to become serious about his political ambitions.

Her father was elected to the Illinois state senate when her brother, Timothy, was in elementary school and before Arizona was even born. He served three terms before running for governor on a whim. Surprisingly, he actually won and served two terms during Arizona's childhood. He began his second term right when Arizona entered eighth grade. She attended Loyola Academy for her first year of high school, but over that summer, he announced his intention to run for president to his family. Deciding that over the next few years it would behoove Arizona to not be burdened with the craziness that came with running a presidential campaign, she was sent to Exeter. Being the governor's daughter, it was always hard for Arizona to make quality friends, even at Loyola, but at Exeter, she was really able to find her place. She was active on the yearbook committee as well in student government, much to the amusement of her father.

She had a great relationship with her family. It was one of the stipulations, she discovered later, of her mother allowing her dad to become heavily involved in politics. Even though at the time, she may not have been too keen on the idea of going to school across the country when she was 16, she understood her father's position and would support him. If there was one thing Arizona's father instilled in her, it was a sense of duty. She had a duty to her family and to the country as a member of a special family.

Part of that duty was remaining in the closet.

Arizona realized she was a lesbian at a very early age. She never really went through the boy crazy phase most of the girls she knew did during middle school and early high school. As soon as she learned what "hot" and "sexy" meant, Arizona was attaching those ideas to women. She never broached the subject with her parents until her father's announcement that fateful summer. By that time, however, Arizona was 15 and had never shown interest in boys, so she hoped her parents had caught on to the fact that she was gay. She still worried, however, because of her father's military background.

It was Arizona's brother, though, who really pushed for her to come out to her family. He was a freshman at the Naval Academy at the time, but made sure she knew he was supportive of her. "I'm gonna dance so hard at your wedding," he told her before giving her a hug. Timothy held her hand as she told her parents she was gay. She may not have been ready to come out, but because of her father's situation, it was vital that he know everything. It probably wouldn't have been a big deal if she hadn't had the occasional hook up with girls from school, but she really didn't want that leaking out and disrupting things for her father.

Her dad was a Republican. A moderate Republican, but a Republican nonetheless. He'd made it perfectly clear over the years that if Arizona were to be found in a compromising situation with another woman, it would have serious repercussions for his political career. He accepted her, even though Arizona had her doubts about his potential reaction. He only had one question: "Are you still who I raised you to be?" Of course she was. She was Arizona Jane Robbins, the only daughter of Colonel Daniel Robbins and Barbara Robbins. She loved her family and her country.

With a satisfied nod, Arizona took a look at her progress. Her desk was completely organized, and her bed made. Looking over at the suitcase of clothes, she decided that could wait until later. She took a seat in her freshly unpacked chair. Even though she was the daughter of the president, Arizona insisted on having a "normal" college experience, whatever that was, so she did her shopping at Target, because that's where they bought Timothy's college things.

She turned her head as she heard someone enter the room, her eyes landing on a woman about her own height with longer dirty blonde hair. "Um hi," Arizona said uncertainly.

"Hi," the girl replied, turning around to face Arizona. "You must be Ari."

"Yeah," Arizona answered. "Are you Teddy or Meredith?"

"Teddy," she said with a smile, sticking her hand out for the blonde to shake.

Arizona took her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"So where are you from?" Teddy asked.

Arizona took a quick breath to make sure she didn't say something she'd regret later. "Chicago," she responded simply. "You?"

"Austin, Texas."

"Wow," Arizona said, impressed. "You're a long way from home."

"Yeah," the other woman chuckled. "I have a feeling come November, I will seriously regret this decision."

"Why did you come up here?" Arizona asked as she reached for her box of crackers. "If you don't mind me asking."

Teddy shrugged her indifference; she didn't really have a problem answering the question. "I just had that feeling. My mom is from Wisconsin, so I looked at a couple of schools up here. Everyone I knew in high school went to UT Austin, and I really didn't want that, so I looked elsewhere. When I visited Bentley, it just clicked like everyone said it would. You know?"

"Yeah," the blonde said fondly, "I do."

"Oh hey guys," Meredith said as she bounded into the room, announcing her presence.

"Hi Meredith," Teddy smiled. "Meredith, this is Ari, our other roommate."

"Cool," she answered, flashing Arizona a bit of a stiff smile. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm not really the happy bubbly type."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," the blonde responded with a dimpled smile. Teddy looked between the three of them and started laughing. Arizona raised her eyebrows. "Care to clue us in Teddy?"

"It's nothing," she replied, still chuckling softly to herself. "We're just all sort of basic. Blonde hair, light eyes…I thought I was going to get some diversity in college. It's amusing."

"I suppose that's true," Meredith said with a soft chuckle.

Arizona looked at the clock on the wall, realizing that she was supposed to meet Callie downstairs in about two minutes to go to the ceremony. "I'm going to head down to the gym for the ceremony with this girl I met. Are you guys going?"

"Yeah," Teddy confirmed. "I'm going with some

"I met this girl named Cristina last night, and we're gonna go together. We should all start an orphan club though since apparently none of us have parents," Meredith smirked.

Arizona laughed as she approached the door frame. "Definitely. I'll see you guys later. Maybe at Playfair or something."

"Yeah maybe," Meredith muttered noncommittally. There was no way in hell she'd be caught at Playfair.

"I'm gonna head out too," Teddy said, following her roommate's lead. "I'll catch you later, Meredith."

"Bye," Meredith answered as her other roommate exited, leaving her alone in the room. She took a deep breath and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. She was still thinking about that stupid Derek guy and it was driving her up a wall. Meredith Grey didn't do relationships and mushy crap. She was a love 'em and leave 'em kind of gal. No strings, no hang ups, and no feelings. But this guy got under her skin. The way his lips felt against hers, the way their bodies fit together, and the way he tilted his head when he smirked all taunted her. This did not happen to her. She was Meredith Grey. She slept with inappropriate men and didn't make a habit of being healthy and whole. Dark and twisty were her middle names. She did not think about stupid blue eyed boys she met at parties.

Grabbing her stuff, Meredith headed for the stairwell. She was supposed to meet Cristina down at the gym for the ceremony soon and didn't want to be particularly late, no matter how much she didn't want to be there. Going down the stairs quickly, she squealed as she ran into another body. "Oh I'm so sorry," she said quickly. Looking up, her green eyes met royal blue. "Oh shit."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "This morning it was Derek."

"You're a student here?" Meredith asked quickly, even though last night, she fully knew that was a possibility. She's just thankful he isn't some young PhD candidate.

He smirked playfully. "A J.C. actually. In this building to be precise."

"Shit," she cursed. "Ok we have to pretend it never happened."

"Which never happened?" Derek asked snarkily, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. "You sleeping with me or you throwing me out this morning? Because both are fond memories I'd like to hold on to."

"No," Meredith answered emphatically. "There will be no memories. I'm not the girl at the party anymore and you aren't the guy. This can't exist. You get that right?"

Derek nodded, going along with it but not really agreeing with anything she just said. "You took advantage of me and now you want to forget about it."

"I did not," Meredith said, biting back a laugh.

Derek put on his mock serious face. "I was drunk, vulnerable, and good looking and you took advantage."

Meredith smiled and laughed softly, unable to contain it anymore. "I was the one who was drunk and you are not that good looking."

"Maybe not today," Derek agreed. "Last night," he remembered fondly with a sense of nostalgia, "last night I was very good looking. I had my red shirt on, my good looking shirt, and you took advantage."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I didn't take adva…"

"Wanna take advantage again?" Derek interrupted. "Say Friday night?"

Meredith just stared at him. This guy was overconfident and apparently dense. She didn't care how skilled his hands were or how good looking he was. "No. You're a J.C. and I'm your resident," she answered as he kept staring at her. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you've seen me naked," she replied, glaring daggers at Derek as he tilted his head and gave her that stupid smirk. "Derek," she scolded. "This is inappropriate. Has that ever occurred to you?" she asked. Not giving him a chance to answer, Meredith continued down the stairs, in a hurry to get to the ceremony.

Walking briskly down the paths heading to Skipper, Meredith snuck through the gym doors, and scanned the crowd for Cristina. She found her predictably hiding in the corner as far away from people as possible. Meredith climbed the bleachers to the secluded corner, collapsing in a chair next to Cristina. "Hey."

"Hey," Cristina greeted blandly. "Think this will be boring?"

"Very," Meredith answered, flipping through the program. She'd seen a couple of these things as a kid when her mom dragged her along. They were all pomp and circumstance, which she supposed was necessary to begin the official college experience. The faculty processed. The Vice President talked about how this class was the smartest and most diverse in the history of the school, though Meredith snickered remembering Teddy's comment from earlier. Then, they sang a hymn –like song, followed by all those with parents present to hug them before they all left to meet their advisors.

"Who do you have?" Cristina asked as they filed outside to receive their box dinners.

"Burke," Meredith replied.

"Me too," she said somewhat excitedly. She wasn't one to get mushy and friendly with others, but she was thankful she'd at least know someone. "You a chem person?"

"Biochem and premed."

"I'm premed too."

"Cool," Meredith said as they searched for this mysterious Burke person. They found him sitting off on the small hill by the building. He had a gigantic sign that said Burke pitched in the grass next to him.

"That's my roommate," Cristina commented as they neared the small circle that had formed around the professor. "And my teammate," she added, seeing Teddy take a seat.

"Those are my roommates," Meredith stated. "This is weird."

"I concur," Cristina said, sitting down on the grass, soon joined by Meredith.

"Hi roommate," Callie said to Cristina, smiling.

"Please don't advertise that we're roommates. You smile too much," Cristina said blithely.

"Hey Callie," Arizona said from across the circle.

"Hi Ari," Callie smiled shyly.

Teddy raised her eyebrows. "Am I the only person who thinks it's weird that we all know each other?"

"Nope," Meredith answered.

"Definitely not."

Callie shrugged. "At least we're not all premed."

"I am."

"Me too."

"Yep."

"Shit, me too."

"I stand corrected," the Latina huffed.

"Well this is unusual," Burke commented. "I'm Preston Burke and I'm a professor in the chemistry department, but I work extensively with the premedical program here at Bentley. This meeting is so you can get to know me. I may not stay your advisor for the entirety of your career here, but I will be working with you on course selection for this upcoming semester."

They went around the circle, each saying their intended majors, which Professor Burke said they would all most likely change or consider changing at one point. Of course, they all vehemently denied this would happen to them. It was sort of weird for them to all be together, but fun at the same time. They were such an interesting collection of personalities. After another half hour of boring academic discussion, they were set free for the night.

"Are you guys going to playfair?" Callie asked, walking between Arizona and Cristina.

"No way in hell am I going to playfair," Meredith answered. "Too many name and birthday games, most of which will involve me dancing butt-to-butt with some awkward freshman boy that just wants to feel me up."

"She has a point," Cristina conceded, earning a thank you gesture from Meredith.

"We could go to the Awkward Dance?" Teddy suggested. Every year Argonne, a dorm, would put on the Awkward Dance. It was the terrible first dance of the year out on the lawn, for freshmen only. There was more awkward mingling, awkward touching, and awkward dancing. It was apparently supposed to be fun.

"I want to throw a party," Meredith blurted.

"On campus? Are you insane?" Teddy warned, because of the no on-campus drinking policy.

"I have a house off-campus," Meredith replied.

"Oh," Teddy shrugged. "I'm down then, but do we know enough people to throw a party? I only know the soccer team."

"Callie knows Mark," Arizona blurted. "He's a J.C. in Hoyt and probably has a lot of friends."

Callie shrugged. "That's actually very true."

"Ok, you call him," Meredith directed, "and tell him to get the alcohol. I'll pay him back later. Teddy and Cristina, you talk to the soccer team. I have a pretty big house, so don't worry about the number of people."

For the next hour, the group of new friends called the few contacts they had, trying to set up something resembling a decent party. Of course they did all of this while walking the short distance down the hill to Meredith's. Opening the door to her spacious house, she let in all of the women behind her. They spent a half hour, pushing things around in the living room to create more space. They also took a couple of light tables to the basement for drinks. Rummaging through a couple of hidden boxes, Meredith pulled out her speakers, taking them downstairs, and hooking them up to her laptop.

"Those are nice," Cristina commented.

"Thanks. Do you know when people are getting here?"

"Mark just arrived with the booze actually," Cristina answered.

"Perfect!" Meredith exclaimed, happy this was happening.

She took some of the drinks from Mark, handing some to Cristina for downstairs, and arranging the rest in the kitchen. Soon, the house began to fill with people as the music thumped through the halls. Meredith and Cristina shared a bottle of tequila, passing it between the two of them as they bobbed to the music. Callie stood awkwardly next to Arizona, sipping on a cup of beer. "Good party," she commented as she swayed to the beat.

"I wouldn't know," Arizona answered blandly.

Callie raised her eyebrows. "You've never been to a party?"  
"Nope," the blonde replied. "I went to boarding school. You got kicked out for having parties. Did you party all the time or something?"

"I'm from Miami, so of course I did," Callie laughed. "Which school?" the Latina questioned, changing the subject.

"Exeter."

The brunette lifted her glass in a congratulatory salute. "Impressive."

"It's no big deal," Arizona replied with a nervous laugh as she sipped on her own drink.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's really cool. I wish I went to boarding school."

"It's certainly an interesting experience. I'll say that much."

Callie smiled warmly. "You'll have to tell me your stories."

"Only if you tell me about the clubs in Miami," Arizona replied, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Deal," The Latina agreed, eager to spend any time she could with the stunning blonde.

"You guys having fun?" Meredith asked as she popped up out of nowhere, her tequila bottle still attached to her hand. The two girls nodded, bringing a smile to Meredith's lips. "Awesome! I'm going to go find some boys." The petite college student slid through the throng of people, her body brushing against a familiar one. She looked up, and of course, there was Derek. She turned the other direction, slicing through the people to get away from his captivating blue eyes, especially while she was drunk. She managed to get out of the crowd of people, but she soon realized he followed her up the stairs. "I'm not going out with you," she blurted.

"Did I ask you to go out with me?" he asked, a flirty tone lacing his voice. "Do you want to go out with me?"

"I'm not dating you and I'm definitely not sleeping with you again. You're my junior counselor."

"I'm actually the boys' J.C.," Derek corrected.

"Whatever. You're my J.C."

"I'm your sister, I'm your daughter," he replied ridiculously.

"You're sexually harassing me."

"I'm standing in a hallway."

"Look," Meredith declared, "I'm drawing a line. The line is drawn. There is a big, fat line."

"So this line," Derek began, tightening his lean muscles underneath his shirt, "is it imaginary or do I need to get you a marker?"

Rolling her eyes, Meredith pushed him against the wall, and crushed their lips together. They frantically kissed until Meredith finally pulled herself away from him and ran back down the stairs, throwing a smirk over her shoulder.

"We'll talk later?" Derek asked, even though he knew she was already gone.

Downstairs, Callie sat next to Arizona on the couch. She tried to pretend like she didn't want to just push the blonde against the wall and take her then. She'd definitely had a little bit to drink. "You're beautiful," she gushed, brushing a blonde hair from her eyes.

"Thanks Callie," Arizona giggled. "You're really pretty."

"Is Ari short for anything?"

Arizona's heart constricted in her chest. Her first lie. "No. Just Ari. What about Callie?"

"Calliope," the brunette responded, slurring just a little bit. "But I don't let anyone call me that except for my dad, but that's because he doesn't listen to me when I correct him."

"Calliope," Arizona repeated. "I like it."

"You can call me Calliope, Ari. I like the way you say it," Callie concluded as she put her head on the blonde's shoulder.

Arizona, feeling a little buzzed herself, draped an arm around the Latina snuggling her close. Oh yeah, this woman was dangerous.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**


End file.
